What Is Twitch? Twitch Explained In 3 Minutes

Transcript

00:01As video gaming has been taken to the next level over the last 5-10 years with freemium

00:06business models and world cups, live streaming has stepped up to complement gaming and has

00:11become, in itself, one of the most popular forms of online entertainment.

00:17That industry raked in almost 140 billion dollars in 2018.

00:22Probably the most well known streaming site is Twitch, which launched back in 2011, positioning

00:27itself at the forefront of live streaming for gaming and beyond.

00:30But what is the story behind Twitch and how did it become the go-to streaming website?

00:37Here's how it happened.

00:38What is Twitch?

00:39Well, it's a website that allows streamers to film themselves using a webcam and a screen

00:44recorder to show people what they're doing live.

00:47And viewers can support streamers by subscribing for a small monthly fee or tipping the streamer

00:53using credits.

00:54Whilst this mostly focuses on gaming, the platform has evolved and now you see live streams of

00:59people cooking, playing poker or walking through a city.

01:03It's so different to YouTube and other video streaming sites because it's so real.

01:08There's no edits, what you see is what's happening live and viewers can chat alongside

01:13the action in the chat box.

01:15It didn't start this way though.

01:17Twitch actually began in 2007 with Justin Kan and Emmett Shear who launched the site Justin.tv.

01:23They wanted to create a Big Brother style site for life casting or streaming your life

01:29around the clock.

01:30At first it was tricky because the cost of being a streamer was high, needing a webcam,

01:35PC, microphone, fast internet and special software.

01:39But as webcam prices dropped, they gained many more users and more watches and in 2011 they

01:46renamed the gaming section of the site to Twitch.tv due to its popularity.

01:50A year later and Twitch were seeing 20 million visitors per month and in 2014, thanks to a

01:57Pokemon video going viral, the site took off.

02:00Due to its popularity, that wasn't all that happened that year, with Amazon acquiring Twitch

02:05for 970 million dollars.

02:09And Prime Gaming now gives Amazon Prime members exclusive benefits, just another reason to sign

02:15up to the business giant.

02:17That financial backing and success now allows streamers to earn a full time income through

02:22Twitch, whether it's with sponsors, donations or subscribers and in platform currency bits.

02:28Some see the idea of watching other people play video games as pointless, but we've done

02:32it for decades, watching our friends play or watching over someone's shoulder at the arcade.

02:37Twitch brings that to the 21st century.

02:40And in their own words, it's a place where millions of people come together live every

02:44day to chat, interact and make their own entertainment together, as fans can watch what they love, connect

02:51with streamers and chat with tons of communities.

02:55And that's how it happened.

02:57Thanks for watching.